When Allan Gravgaard Madsen received the Carl Nielsen and Anne Marie Carl-Nielsen Honorary Award in 2022, the jury remarked: "Your music is characterized by presence, sensuousness, and a poetic nature." This poetic quality is frequently highlighted in various reviews.
His works often consist of a micro world of sounds, sparse textures and limited musical material, and Allan Gravgaard Madsen has expressed that he tries to create a better version of himself in his music. "Where my person tends to be restless, babbling and have an active inner life, my music is controlled, simple and merciless in its expression," he claims and continues: "In my pieces, I work with obstructions and very strict rules. These rules can define the use of very limited pitch material and form elements that find their roots in mathematical proportions or works written by historic composers. As my compositions can centre around exclusive use of a single pitch, the creative process brings me into intimate contact with the material, the musicians and the audience."
Current projects and recent achievements
Allan Gravgaard Madsen is composer-in-residence at the Aarhus Symphony Orchestra 2018-2024 commissioned to write four orchestral pieces: Ouvert’ premiered in 2020, Concerto Grosso premiered in 2022 with the renowned Jack Quartet as soloists, SYMFONI will be premiered on 21 June 2024 and Away composed in collaboration with Morten Riis will be premiered on 6 September 2024.
Allan Gravgaard Madsen earned his Bachelor, Master and Advanced Postgraduate Diploma in Composition at the Royal Academy of Music, Aarhus, from 2008 to 2017 with main teachers Simon Steen-Andersen, Niels Rønsholdt and Joanna Bailie. His works have been performed by ensembles such as JACK Quartet (US), ensemble recherche (DE), Danish National Symphony Orchestra (DK), Duo Åstrand / Salo (DK), Aarhus Symphony Orchestra (DK), Føroya Symfoniorkestur (FO), Cikada ensemble (NO), Ensemble Lemniscate (CH), and Ensemble Musiques Nouvelles (BE).
Most recently Allan Gravgaard Madsen was selected as one of three representatives of Denmark at the International Rostrum of Composers 2024. In 2022, he was awarded one of Scandinavia’s most prestigious honorary awards in music, the Carl Nielsen & Anne Marie Carl-Nielsen Honorary Award. Throughout his career, he has received Talent Prizes from Léonie Sonning Music Fond (2017) and Carl Nielsen & Anne Marie Carl-Nielsen's Grant (2016) He has been awarded Special Recognition from the Danish Arts Foundation for his double concerto Nachtmusik (2019) and the symphonic song cycle BEINTA (2016), which he co-composed with Faroese composer Anna Katrin Øssursdóttir Egilstrøð. Both works are recorded and released by Dacapo Records.
More music and more than music
Allan Gravgaard Madsen strives to convey music in contemporary and innovative concert concepts and contexts. His extensive involvement in the Danish music scene includes roles such as artistic director of Århus Sinfonietta, chairperson of the nonprofit organization for music and sound art in Aarhus (AUT), board member of Art Music Denmark, and festival director for the Young Nordic Music Days (UNM).
Allan Gravgaard Madsen is a well-known face and voice in Danish television and radio. He stars in the TV series Operarejsen and is a regular guest on the popular quiz show Den Klassisk Musikquiz. He was co-host of two classical music radio shows, Taktløs and Cilius Patruljen, and he performs as the character Speaker-Allan, on the award-winning political satire radio show Den Korte Radioavis.